Florida Gators football: Recruiting roller coaster

In recruiting, you often have to take the bad with the good, the ups with the downs. That could not be truer for the Florida Gators, who in recent weeks have experienced somewhat of a roller coaster ride in the recruiting department.

It began roughly two weeks ago at the Under Armour All-America game when top running back commit Dalvin Cook flipped his commitment from Florida to Florida State. Then, during halftime of the game, Florida picked up a commitment, adding five-star defensive end Gerald Willis III.

That was just the beginning, however, as Thursday, Florida landed another five-star defender in cornerback Jalen Tabor. It was a huge get for head coach Will Muschamp as Tabor should help offset the loss of junior cornerbacks Loucheiz Purifoy and Marcus Roberson, who are both leaving early for the NFL Draft.

Jalen Tabor was an important addition for the Gators.

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Tabor will combine with rising sophomore Vernon Hargreaves III to potentially give Florida one of the best cornerback duos in the Southeastern Conference.

Not long after Tabor’s commitment, four-star cornerback Chris Lammons backed off his pledge to the Gators. In a tweet, Lammons said his decision had nothing to do with Tabor’s commitment from earlier in the day.

Wisconsin and South Carolina now appear to be in the lead for Lammons’ services.

Then, less than 24 hours later, the roller coaster took another turn, as Florida picked up a commitment from four-star athlete Brandon Powell, who flipped from Miami. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Powell is expected to play running back for the Gators.

Like Tabor, Powell was an important addition for Florida. After missing out on Dalvin Cook, the Gators were in need of a running back. And as you can see below, Powell offers some of that same speed and playmaking ability that Florida was hoping for from Cook.

Finally, the roller coaster that has been Florida football recruiting came to an end (for the time being at least) with the decommitment of wide receiver Ermon Lane, who announced his decision via Twitter.

Lane, the No. 2-overall receiver in the class, is a tremendous loss, as the Gators missed out yet again on another top offensive playmaker. However, Lane’s decision did not come as much of a surprise, it was expected for the last couple of weeks, especially after his close friend Cook flipped to FSU. Many expect that is where Lane will end up as well.

After a 4-8 finish this season, it was expected for Florida to lose some of its top commits (and who could really blame them after watching that disaster?). However, these past couple of weeks are proof that Muschamp and his coaching staff will be able to weather the storm and come out of this with a pretty good recruiting class.